==>  optenir <==

This person has only 63 followers despite being here in seven years. I don't think that's acceptable.

So I've gotten a series of responses to the last journal, and it appears that the consensus is "more of the same."

Guys, I've got some bad news for you: the same ain't working.

I've spent way too much of my life on this weird little subniche of a niche and have nothing to show for it. FurAffinity is easily my most active means of engagement and after 20 years of using the site, I've only got 1500 followers. It's really poor form to complain about lack of engagement, I know, but am stumped and looking for answers. I've built no network, I have no peers, I have no growth. My artwork does not resonate with people well, nor have I been able to get any kind of comprehensive feedback on how to do that. I have no idea how to sell myself. I've been in a dead-end artistically for decades and I don't know where to go from here. I feel it is a credit to my willpower to have stuck with art as long as I have for as little reward I've gotten out of it, but it is also proof that willpower alone isn't enough. This needs to change, and soon.

This isn't to say that I don't enjoy doing wrestling erotica work. Getting some enjoyment out of producing this kind of art has helped carry me as long as I have gone. Yet, it isn't the only thing I've ever wanted to do artistically. It's fun, but it is aesthetically junk food. It is not my ambition to be the Eric Stanton of the furry community. Moreover, it prevents me from being to branch out in other directions. If I, say, want to get an actual paying job doing art, it doesn't feel great that my portfolio is all animal people committing sexualized assault on each other. It's not a good look to people who it doesn't specifically appeal to.

Of course, this is all..."fine"...when I had a source of income to get by. I don't have that anymore, and I am feeling the pain of not having kind of real development over the years. You guys haven't been supporting me; this isn't an accusation, just a statement of fact. I can't realistically make a living off of you the way things are. There either needs to be a massive expansion of my base, or I'll need to get more aggressive about monetizing my work, which I hate the thought of and can also stifle my chances at growing. The fact that payment processors have gotten much more aggressive about policing content also imperils any chance of making a living off of continuing making this kind of art.

I simply don't have the time or the energy to keep doing this. I'm seeing younger artists sail past me while I keep spinning my wheels. I need something different now, right now.

I've been spending twenty years of my life trying to build an audience and I have to admit, I just don't get you all. It's so damned rare that I get any kind of real feedback. I have nothing to go off of, so, you people are just going to have to tell me what you want to see.

Details here: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/11231595/

It was a tumultuous almost three years when by workplace was bought out, but I finally hit an impasse and could no longer continue working there.

If you want to get commission work from me, now would be a good time to get it. I have a form to fill out here, with prices:

Commission Form

Do remember that things with payment processors is really crazy right now and you need to be discrete. We'll talk details through DMs.

You can also support me at my crowd-funding platforms at

https://subscribestar[dot]adult/lonewolfspawprints
https://ko-fi[dot]com/lonewolf

You can also by a selection of merch at my RedBubble store:

RedBubble Store

Thanks to you who can chip in.

Posted using PostyBirb

Just to let you all know, I do not have any tolerance for generated content. I just turned down several hundred dollars because I discovered that the commissioner was hosting AI content on their server. I'm damned serious about this. GenAI is a parasitic phenomena favored only by lazy parasites, and supporting it is an insult to me and to everyone who has put a pencil to paper, and it is suffocating our culture under a mountain of garbage and sucking the planet dry in the process. GenAI users and I are not friends and never will be. To make this clear going forward:

-No GenAI. Ever.
--Not working with or for anyone who supports generated content.
--No using it in any step of the creative process. Not even for "references."
--I see even a drollop of slop associated with you, you're blacklisted from commissioning me.
--I will and have turned down hundreds of dollars of commissions. I'm dead serious. You cannot buy me out.
--And since I keep seeing these whenever the topic comes up, do not leave one of those inane "I use AI for [task AI is demonstrably terrible for]" comments. It's been a few years now, and they haven't found a good use-case for it. It's worthless tech, just like blockchains, just like crypto, just like NFTs.

Also, side note, don't try to negotiate down my prices either. I am dirt cheap compared to other artists of my skill level and the price is based on the approximate time I'll spend making the picture at $20-an-hour, which is lower than what a real professional would charge. Trying to nickle and dime me will only cause your prices to go up if I have to put in that kind of paperwork, and make me really cross for asking.

Haven't done one of these in a while. Ask me or my characters anything, and I'll answer it.

That was cool. We should start doing that again.

The tag-blocking is a step in the right direction, but without policies or mechanisms to encourage correct and thorough tagging, it's not going to accomplish much.

Tag suggestions like they have on Inkbunny would be a huge improvement.

A reminder that there is only a few days left for you to grab a free copy of my book through Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1633391

The sci-fi novella I published a couple months ago is currently available for FREE on Smashwords as part of their End of Year sale. The sale is good from now up through New Years if you use the coupon code SW100 at checkout.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1633391

Since the recent drama has caused some people to dust off their Weasyl accounts, I've decided to do the same. I haven't uploaded anything there since...2020, aw jeeze...but I plan to start up again.

https://www.weasyl.com/~lonelylupine

So, a bunch of the admin staff are quitting. This Bluesky thread has been keeping track of the resignations so far and goes into detail about the behind the scenes drama: https://bsky.app/profile/echoen.bsk...../3l7myvup4fy2t

However, one thing that has stuck out to me was this post here: https://bsky.app/profile/echoen.bsk...../3l7n24bqi3d2w . Turns out, all that other crap they've been doing since the AlertPay crisis all the way back in 2010? Completely unprovoked. FA's not had an issue with a payment processor since then, but has been tightening restrictions anyway and using rumors of processor interference as a smokescreen.

They had been surrendering this site piece by piece in advance. Not only did they never try to stick up for us, the users and the community, but they were chickening out before there was a fight to be had.

I'm a tad bit miffed about that.

So, the brainrot in FA has fully set in.

There are two kinds of people who respond to the reality of what happens after you try to draw hard lines on works of fiction. They either realize they're being silly, kill their inner cop, and live their own goddamn lives. Others double down and become weirder and creepier than whatever they're supposedly fighting against.

They keep pushing out the boundaries on AUP Section 2.7 that they're going to end up banning all NSFW art because it might exist within 2000 yards of a minor. If you think I'm exaggerating, the admin is currently arguing on the FA discord that fertilized eggs are technically minors, which consequently means that all those sexual images that have that impregnation subpanel? Banned now. Good job, guys, real thinktank you got boiling in there.

Man, these guys who are running FA now are making me appreciate 'Neer because it turns out he was the smart one. He's gone now, and we're all stuck under the waterfall of stupid.

Anyway these changes mean I'm probably going to have to clear images from my gallery. That probably includes the whole Perfect Victim comic. If you want to continue enjoying these works, follow me at less crazy places: https://linktr.ee/lonelylupine

Reopening my headshot commission special. Full-color headshot commissions for $30/ea.

Fill to my commission form with references to get one: https://forms.gle/ax1kKc6j3EZVRyL49

Examples of previous comms:

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/53092349/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/53092365/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35668236/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35668276/

My commissions queue has been cleared, thanks to all the people who bought them, and a special thank you to the guy who sent me a donation through Ko-Fi. I am in better shape now than I was a couple weeks ago, but it's still going to be tight for my next pay-cycle. I'm still good for more but my other job will be picking up this week, so if you do decide to get a commission yourself, it might be a bit slower to get it.

Also, I haven't been very good at pushing this, but I do have a Redbubble store. There are prints and magnets and stickers and shirts and paraphernalia. I've uploaded a couple new designs a couple days ago, even. If you want to get something from me but not a commission, that's also a good option. Every little bit helps.

Redbubble Store

Posted using PostyBirb

:)

https://linktr.ee/lonelylupine

So, I ran out of money today, and I will have only $20 left over from my next paycheck after rent. If you have been pondering getting a commission from me, now is a great time to get it.

My commission form: https://forms.gle/bhUA4XHtbs3sWeny9

Posted using PostyBirb

There is no telling when this site will go down and when it will be back now that Neer is gone. Start making an off-site presence now and catch up with people there before you lose it all forever.

And you should start saving pieces of artwork you want to keep since you don't know when that is going away too.

...

And don't make fucking Twitter your main place now, you lunatics.

Again, linktree with all my off-sites: https://linktr.ee/lonelylupine

Well...that was unexpected, wasn't it?

Goes to show how time will sneak up on you.

I would like to think that there will be an orderly hand-off of ownership and that the next guy will try to keep the community's interests as a top priority, but, this is FA we're talking about, so I would like to CMA.

Here's the list of off-site places I use, if anyone is interested in back-ups: https://linktr.ee/lonelylupine

Remember me if you join up with Bluesky now that it has gone public: https://bsky.app/profile/lonelylupine.bsky.social

Or don't. Doesn't really matter, anyway.

Posted using PostyBirb

===>  thetarget <===

As usual, whenever I find an artist I like who has fewer followers than I do, I lend a hand and push them to the rest of you. Watch their shit.

*sigh*

...I'm sorry...

...I have a Bluesky now...

https://bsky.app/profile/lonelylupine.bsky.social

Hopefully my income is going to get better in the near future, but for right now, money is a bit tight. Anyone want some simple, full-color portraits for cheap? Even just one bite will ease up the pressure between now and my next paycheck.

Just a reminder that I am still open for commissions.

You can fill out the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11L.....wZ6CyzVODS8bmI

Or contact me directly if don't feel like using the form. You should actually contact me anyway because I don't get a notification when the form is filled out and I won't notice if I don't check it for a while.